Patti LuPone Stirs Up Trouble, Norbert and Katie Play Dead & More Can't-Miss Broadway Dates
Work off those Thanksgiving calories by walking around New York City and taking in the marvelous events happening on Broadway this week! Among the best: opening nights for Patti LuPone, Norbert Leo Butz and Katie Holmes, plus a lounge turn by Laura Osnes and a big Broadway curtain call for Hurricane Sandy.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26
SANDY'S BIG SEND-OFF
Hurricane Sandy took its toll on Broadway, and now Broadway is going to hurl it right back at that nasty super-storm with City of Hope: Broadway Blows Back, a starry concert benefitting hard-hit New York and New Jersey communities. Patrick Wilson, Julia Murney, Jessie Mueller, Christopher Sieber and Ashley Brown are among the theater luminaries lending their talents to the event and sending out the message to Hurricane Sandy, loud and clear: Don't mess with Broadway or we'll throw a benefit!
ALSO: Tommy Tune plays his final show at Feinstein’s; Kecia Lewis-Evans sings to the rafters at 54 Below; David Hyde Pierce presents the Fred Ebb Award at the American Airlines Theatre; producer Michael David takes home the UJA-Federation of New York's Excellence in Theater Award.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27
LAURA OSNES HITS THE CLUB
Before she gets comfortable in her Cinderella ball gown, Laura Osnes will hit the lounge at 54 Below for a six-performance run of Laura Osnes Sings Maury Yeston, in which Osnes—you guessed it—tackles the catalogue of veteran theater composer Yeston, who won Tonys for Titanic and Nine. Can Osnes handle the challenge? Yeston she can!
ALSO: Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking releases its cast recording; Anthony Rapp’s Without You album hits shelves; Edward Albee: A Singular Journey available on Kindle; Jesus Christ Superstar Live Arena Tour comes to Blu-Ray.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28
VANESSA REDGRAVE'S STORY TIME
Tony Award winner Vanessa Redgrave will direct herself in a two-night engagement of A World I Loved: The Story of an Arab Woman, a play co-written by Redgrave and Mariam C. Said. The show, being presented at Columbia University's Miller Theatre, tracks the life of an Arab woman living in a politically shaky Lebanon. A heartwrenching story plus a performance by Redgrave? There aren't enough Kleenex in New York!
ALSO: My Name is Asher Lev opens at off-Broadway's Westside Theatre; cult concept album Razia’s Shadow gets a starry concert reading at Joe’s Pub.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29
KATIE HOLMES AND NORBERT LEO BUTZ PLAY DEAD
There is no shortage of star power in Theresa Rebeck's new comedy Dead Accounts, which marks another fabulous opening night for two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz, a return to Broadway for Katie Holmes and a big debut for perennial TV and film favorite Judy Greer. Josh Hamilton and Jayne Houdyshell co-star in the laugh-out-loud comedy, which features so much ice cream and pizza that the food should be credited as a cast member.
ALSO: Holiday musical The Nutcracker and the Mouse King begins off-Broadway.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30
HO-HO-HO WITH CEE-LO
There's one jolly celebrity who deserves a holiday special, and it's not Santa Claus. Cee-Lo Green will bring his flashy extravagance to NBC in Cee-Lo's Magic Moment, co-starring American Idiot alum Tony Vincent (a member of Green's singing team on The Voice). Vincent will rock out to a slew of wintry standards, and if his head is still as shiny as we remember, maybe he can double as a Christmas ornament.
ALSO: Whitney Houston's final film Sparkle comes out on Blu-Ray; Chris March’s Butt-Cracker Suite rings in the irreverence off-Broadway.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1
MOBSTERS GO OFF-BROADWAY
If one Mob Wives star isn't enough for Broadway, make it two! Karen Gravano will fill in as the wedding officiator in My Big Gay Italian Wedding, following in the footsteps of her co-star Ramona Rizzo, who appeared in the show earlier this month. All that's left to make this a true mob occasion is for Marlon Brando to do someone a favor on this, the day of my daughter's big gay Italian wedding.
ALSO: Charles Castronovo gets into the groove at 54 Below; The Nutcracker and the Mouse King opens off-Broadway.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2
PATTI LUPONE AND DEBRA WINGER CAUSE ANARCHY
Strap on your seatbelt and prepare for a diva smackdown between Patti LuPone and Debra Winger, who co-star in David Mamet's new play The Anarchist as an inmate and a warden in a women's prison. This divine duo is sure to receive some support from famous friends on opening night, which we hear is strictly an orange jumpsuit affair.
ALSO: Sorry, Checkers and Disgraced end after extended runs; York Theatre Company stages a one-night-only reunion performance of Starting Here, Starting Now; Telly Leung and Barbara Carroll croon at 54 Below.
To have your NYC-area event considered, send us an e-mail at datebook@broadway.com.